When Do My Stories End?
by SonicGirlGamer
Summary: ON HOLD: This wasn't supposed to happen! I just wanted to foil Eggman's plans. Why did it turn out to be like this? Will I ever...move on? WARNING: SonAdow
1. Chapter 1: Wish You Were Here

**WHEN DO MY STORIES END CHAPTER 1  
><strong>Chapter 1: Mystery of You

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><p>Sitting...watching...waiting. I'm <em>so<em> bored. I've been sitting on this couch, waiting for something to come, or at least, that's what I think I'm doing. It has to be something adventurous and challenging. Something that will knock the guts out of me, but so far...no progress. At all! I'm sitting on the couch playing with my fingers and leaning my head on my other arm waiting for something to happen for as long as I could remember. Waiting wasn't really one of my favorite hobbies, if you could call it a hobby. My friends are good at it but not me, and I don't really give a care for patience. I'm always on the move. Looking out for trouble, or attention, but if something doesn't happen then I go and _make _something happen. Right now, I don't what to make happen, which is usually rare for me. Usually, I'm out running and people would just call me for help, save the world from Dr. Eggman's madness, or having a day out with my friends until Eggman mentions something about snatching a Chaos Emerald or two, but lately, I haven't been able to do anything. I don't seem to be my very own self. I feel as if something big was going to come at me. Something that even a hero couldn't handle, or something a hero wasn't even good at; but I'm talented and full of luck, I bet I could pull through by making things go my way. I mean, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog for Chaos' sake!

Suddenly, I heard my little wrist communicator buzz. _Finally_, something's happening. I hope whoever is calling me gets me something to do because I was about to go to bed and sleep the rest of the day away. I looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and the black digital numbers said "2:30 PM". Yeah~... About the sleeping part, I don't think I'll be able to sleep at this time. I turned to my communicator and noticed that it was Tails calling me. My mood lightened 10X before I could even think because I always hear good news from my bro, and from good news, I mean things like Dr. Eggman wreaking havoc in the city or some unknown phenomena going on some part of the world. I tapped the response button and the screen displayed my yellow, two-tailed buddy.

"Yo Tails, what's up?" I was happy and eagerly waiting for Tails to tell me whatever he wanted to tell me. So...freaking...happy!

"Well..." I heard Tails say on the other side.

"Let me guess, you want me to run down to Westopolis and save the city from Eggy again?" I interrupted.

"Um..."

"No wait! Egghead's got a new big plot again, right?"

"Sonic?"

"Okay, wait a minute! Eggman got a hold of all the Chaos Emeralds?" I was excitedly jumping on the cushions right about now.

"..."

And when I didn't hear anything coming from Tails, I began to feel a bit...uneasy. "Tails, are you there?" Just by looking at my buddy, I figured there wasn't going to be anything for me to do today.

"Sorry to break it to ya, but there's nothing 'exciting' going on," he straightforwardly explained, and I was dumbfounded. Seriously, I could have sworn I felt my own jaw drop all the way to the floor because I couldn't believe what I just heard. For the first time...in my teenage life of being a world-renowned hero, I've _never_ heard Tails say _anything_ like that. I was left completely speechless, and yet, surprised to the bone. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, aren't I? I'm the one who's supposed to attract all kinds of danger, I'm supposed to be the one to extinguish all evil that dares to take over any universe, and I'll to prove to those who challenge me to a battle, or race, so that they'll think twice about trying to take over the world because this hedgehog is the only one standing in their way of being the galaxy's most feared maniac. Now I wondered why Tails would call me when he didn't really have anything to share. By now, I was sure that my friend became very concerned for me since I didn't give him an immediate response.

"Uh...Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked breaking the awkward silence. It was probably awkward for him, but not for me.

"Huh? Oh, I'm alright, just a little surprised that there's no trouble for me to stop, that's all," I managed to make my vocals work right. Thank goodness.

I almost yelled at Tails when he snickered, "Don't worry Sonic, I'm quite shocked myself, but I'm just guessing that Eggman is planning something big since he hasn't made his move in months. I'm hoping you at least be patient for the plan to bust."

I groaned getting my butt off the couch and pace around the living room, "Hmm... If he's planning something evil, should I go ahead and foil it anyway? I mean, I'm supposed to stop his plans before it gets set into motion, right?"

"Do you have _any_ idea where Eggman's base is Sonic?" I didn't think Tails was willing to help me stop Eggman. He sounds like he's trying to think up of every possible question to get me blocked. I bet that's what he is planning. Despite that, who would know where Eggman's base would be? I felt my own brain click when I began to think up of a close buddy that might tell me where Egg-head may be hiding. I then turned to face Tails, who was in the screen, and smiled toothily, "I think I might know where Egg-head may be."

"Really? Where?" he sounded very excited when I announced my supposed thoughts.

"I'm going to have to get some information out from someone first," I tapped my fingers on my chin still in some thinking mode.

"And who's the guy on your mind?"

"Oh, someone who we all know and love," I teased.

"The someone who we all know and love is you, Sonic," Tails announced thinking he obviously knew the answer, though he sounded a bit sarcastic, too. I was quite touched for a moment too. Although, I wish that statement was true, but not everyone loves me.

"I'm talking about Shadow the Hedgehog," I replied. I wanted to add "doofus" to the statement but didn't want to say anything mean to my best friend.

"Why him?" Tails seemed very disinterested with my answer. "The last time we had contact with him was after he battled against Devil Doom, and after that battle, Shadow disappeared again. How exactly are you going to 'ask' Shadow if he isn't here?"

"C'mon Tails, do you _always_ have to make things more difficult for me?" I asked. Seriously, where does he get all this information? This kid certainly knows his stuff.

"Difficult how?" Tails asked. I think he was only teasing, but that made a nerve of mine tick.

"_TAILS!_"

"Okay, okay. Seriously Sonic, we have no idea where Shadow could be, along with Dr. Eggman. How are we going to find one of them if the other is gone?" Finally, he gets all his thoughts together, and this is what he comes up with. Chaos! I hate Tails, why does he have to be so freakin' smart? Sometimes my head hurts from all the thinking I have to do just to be able to get things sort out, but when the time comes, Tails just _has _to figure out some kind of flaw in my plan, or thought. I know I don't really think things through to the end, but at least I manage to get out of trouble, right? Still, trying to find Shadow _is_ going to be a bit complicating, I'll give him that. Plus, he managed to keep himself hidden from the world for 50 years, even though that was GUN's part. I wonder how long he's going to keep himself from the public now.

Recently, GUN has been annoying me lately. Constantly asking me if I knew where Shadow was because apparently, they want him to join them, wanting to make up the past tensions they had with each other. But on Shadow's terms, I don't think he's going to forgive GUN for shooting Maria and everything else that happened on the ARK. At the same time, I don't think he should join them because I despise them too; just...not as much as Shadow. Then again, Rouge isShadow's only closest friend—the one he _would_ consider his friend—and she works for GUN as well so... _That's it!_ Rouge can help me get a lead as to the whereabouts of my missing "pal".

"I got it!" I announced out of the blue which, I think, had caused Tails to jump right out of his chair.

"What?" he yelled. He seemed like he forgot what we were talking about a while ago.

"Why don't we go down to Club Rouge? She may know where Shadow is," I was so proud of myself.

"You think Rouge will help you?" Tails crossed his arms.

"No."

"Then...why?"

"I don't think. I _know_, buddy!" I exclaimed happily.

With that being our last thoughts, I said my goodbyes to Tails. Then, I quickly rushed out the door and to Club Rouge. I absolutely had no idea why Rouge would want to have her own club, but since she worked for GUN, she probably gets paid a butt-load of money just to be able to make it and stuff. Plus, she does a great job as an agent herself, so she _definitely_ deserves that money. Still, I don't think she deserves to have a hold of _any _of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Who knows what she'll do to them. In fact, who knows what a jewel-obsessed batgirl would do to them.

I reached the front of Rouge's fancy little club and looked around for any signs of visitors and Tails. Not a crowd, that's good, and no Tails. Whatever Tails is doing, he's taking a long time to get here, or he wasn't coming at all, or he decided to not come at all. Either way, I'm going to handle things on my own anyway. Hmm...I was so used to seeing Club Rouge super busy on the weekdays that I was starting to think that I was in a different world. Maybe I am, since everything today is so peaceful and nothing was happening. No, it was because the day was going by slowly and everybody in the neighborhood is just too lazy to come out of their warm, cozy homes. Now that I think of it, it _is_ winter by the way. Everybody is home with their families, or with someone they love right now.

Entering the club was a big relief. Outside was filled with cold and freezing wind but inside was warm and welcoming, I thought I smelled hot cocoa from behind the bar. I hoped that Rouge was here or somewhere here. I didn't want to spend anymore of my time looking for more of my missing friends. I've already got a lot to think about now. I loosened my scarf around my neck and greeted the bat standing behind the counter. Phew, at least she's working today. She looked tired and didn't look like she could handle a full house. Lucky for her, everyone is staying home enjoying their own warmth. When she saw me, she smiled lightly, "Hey there sugar, what brings you here? Can I get you anything?"

"Thanks, but no thanks, I was wondering if you'd help me find Shadow, and don't tell me you don't know where he is. You're the only one here who he would choose and trust to ever speak to. Actually, speak more than three words to," I spat. Was I really this determined to hunt down Dr. Eggman, or am I determined to see Shadow again? It is true that I like to make little games out of kicking the metal out of Eggman's robots, but Shadow makes my adrenaline hit another level of speed that I wished I felt forever. I got to say that both of them make me excited, but... I really did want to see Shadow again after a full year has passed since the Black Arms' Invasion.

Rouge giggled placing her hot cocoa down on the counter, "Calm down Sonic, you don't need to worry about him. In fact, he's alright...at home."

My ears jerked up when I heard Shadow had a home. Where is this..._home_ of his? Why didn't anyone tell me this before? I jumped with excitement without a notice. I was beginning to think that Shadow was some homeless hog, but I guess I was wrong.

"At home? He's already living in—" I stopped midway into my sentence. Rouge looked at me irritatingly, and I figured I was being too loud. To me, at least I woke her up from her sleepy state; she _should_ thank me for that. I sat back on one of those tall stools and lowered my voice. Something I'm not really good at, but I try. So, I sat there and waited for her to give me her answer. Finally, she looked at me and sighed. I became uncomfortably confused.

"Sonic, Shadow isn't coming back," she softly spoke.

"Wha-What do you mean? You said that—" I was beginning to think my ears were betraying me. Were they letting me listen to Rouge right?

"You have to understand this Sonic, Shadow told me himself that he wouldn't come back," Rouge told me, but I didn't really get what she meant when he wasn't coming back.

"Come back? From where?" I asked looking at her.

The batgirl sighed once more and looked away from me, "He's staying up on the ARK, I tried to tell him to stay with me, but he refused to listen a reason. But, at the least, he let me check in on him as soon as I could, and everytime I do, he just looks paler each time I get a glimpse of him." I was beginning to notice Rouge's tears. They were starting to let loose. I swear I felt my own hands becoming numb. Shadow is becoming pale? How pale is he getting, as pale as a ghost? Why didn't Rouge tell me anything from the start? Did Shadow warn her to not tell anyone else? Is he hiding from the public because he doesn't want to be put on the front page of the newspaper, and be the top headline on world magazines, and be the gossip in everyone's conversations? Okay...maybe that thought was a little bit off topic, but I could actually picture Shadow trying to stay away from the public like that. But really, keeping himself hidden from his friends, along with going as far as to causing Rouge to cry? That's just messed up, and this crazy stunt he's pulling is just going to worry everyone—well, maybe everyone as in Rouge and me, of course.

Eventually, I felt my hands coming back to feeling, and I started to glare at the counter for no apparent reason. I was getting mad at myself, or am I? I didn't actually know why I was getting mad. My eyes were starting to sting with water, my teeth beginning to grind against each other, clenched hands tightening, and my stomach churning, somewhat. What's wrong with me? I know I'm mad but there is something else. Then, I felt something touch my arm. Something warm. I looked up to see my friend Rouge, and she knew what I was feeling. Her own eyes said it all; she was sad, angry, and shameful.

Suddenly, I felt everything come lose, except for my tears; they stayed in my eyes. Locked up and hidden as any other hero would want. Showing any kind of weakness meant that the bad guys would easily come at you if they knew what you were compelled to. Never in my life would I cry... I'd smile the negativity away. "Rouge, I'm going to pay Shadow a visit," I said a little angrier than I expected.

"Y'know Sonic, I was thinking the same thing. Don't forget to tell Shadow that I want him to come back down here as well," Rouge said.

I smiled back, "Don't worry Rouge, I'll be sure to get the message through his rock-hard head!" The bat girl finally gave me her real smile. I'm glad that I was able to at least get some stress off her shoulders. Now she has put her worry to me, she trusts me, and I must not let her down—or myself. I gave her my usual thumbs-up before leaving the club all to herself. I felt like I didn't really want to leave her alone, but I didn't want to deal with the girls in the club. She needed someone to talk to, plus she's got a crush on my Knuckle-head buddy. I should at least tell him to drop a greeting every now and then for her. Yeah, that would be one of the things on my "to-do" list if I remember. Walking out of the club and feeling the cold breeze against my fur was a tad bit tingly. I tightened the hold of the scarf around my neck, so I wouldn't get frostbite while I ran.

When I was zooming down the streets towards my home, my communicator began to ring again. I raised my arm and saw it to be Amy calling me. Man, I was half expecting it to be Tails. Instead, I get someone who was far more worried for me. It _had _to be someone who was madly in love with me...and have a creepy way of following me around. I didn't know if I should answer it, or if I should just leave it ringing until it stopped. Being who I am, I just _had_ to press the response button.

"Yo!" my voice was kind of muffled due to my scarf, but I knew that Amy was able to make it out. I greet my friends in a friendly, warm manner anyway.

Amy appeared on the screen and she looked at me with hands placed on her hips. She was angry. How typical. "Sonic, are you out in the cold?" She interrogated.

Wow...something original. If she knew, then why did she ask? "Um...yes?" I answered.

Amy sighed, "What are you doing out there?"

"First off, I'm heading home. Second, I'm going to grab my Chaos Emerald, and third, I'm giving my old pal, Shadow, a _friendly_ visit."

"Hmph, why don't you come down to my place and give _me_ a friendly visit instead? I would share some of my hot chocolate with you!"

"Sorry Ames, but I've got some things to take care of first. See ya!" I quickly hit the "end connection" button before she could object to my bidding. Talking to her just gives me headaches even if it was only for a few seconds or minutes. I like her and all, but she just takes things up a level. Ugh, my nose is starting to become ice. I can't feel it anymore; in fact, I don't think I even _have_ a nose anymore. Seeing my house coming into view, I was immediately overcome with delight. I would finally be in my own comfy home. Too bad I'll only be there for awhile.

Rushing into my house to have the door close behind me was almost difficult for me because I was becoming a bit numb. I wasn't really planning to be going out there anytime again, at least, I think so... Good thing I've been improving on my Chaos Control. Although, I still think I need more practice, maybe I could learn a thing a two from the Faker. I don't call Shadow "Faker" much anymore because I _was_ starting to consider him a friend of mine, but Shadow just had to go and pull off this disappearing stunt on all of us. Plus, I wouldn't count on Shadow to be considering me as a friend of his anytime soon. Ah, I remember those days when we continuously called each other "Fakers". It was fun while it lasted. Oh well, time will just have to wait for that day we call each other by our _names_ I guess. Yeah, like when the world ends, _that's_ probably when it'll happen.

It took _forever_ for me to look for my Chaos Emerald. I looked almost everywhere in the house for it, and it turns out that it was hiding in my closet under all my stuff. Good thing that it was still in my house, at least. Now that I think about it, the Chaos Emerald reminds me of Shadow's burning red eyes. Yes, I have a red emerald in my hand. And it was _so _not my fault for picking it! It just happened to be the next emerald that we found. _GAH! _I've got to stay focused because Shadow _needs_ someone and that someone is going to be _me._ Why did that just sound a bit...weird?

Oh whatever! I held out the emerald into the sky, more like ceiling, "_CHAOS...CONTROL!_"

A flash of light made itself visible through my closed eyes, and I was transported to the space colony. Thinking of the last time I came to the ARK was almost forever ago, but not a lot of time had passed since then. Sometimes I feel a little afraid to come back because you never know when it would set a crash course to Earth for no reason. Well, it's a good thing that Shadow's up here; I won't have much trouble 'til then. I wonder if Shadow will consider living anywhere _but_ the ARK. I mean, I know it's his home and all, but he can't just decide to stay up here forever because he can't survive like this. He's not the Ultimate Life-Form even though he claims to be. Why am I thinking like that? Am I really this worried for Shadow? Anyway, I hoped Shadow didn't sense any sudden Chaos energy popping up in the middle of space because I wanted to surprise him before he could find me.

Looking around at the ARK and trying to get the atmosphere, it was still filled with dust and blinking buttons. I huffed. And to think that Shadow would be cleaning the place while he's up here too, but no, he didn't.

Dang it! I had forgotten that Shadow could be anywhere here. He probably knows this place at the back of his hand by now. Despite that being the problem, I've been practicing on sensing Chaos energy, but still, it's difficult and am still practicing. I bet I could find Shadow faster if I could sense his energy somewhere...

Crap! I heard a hissing sound. I think a door just opened. I turned around to see who the intruder was, even though I knew that Shadow was going to the only one here, and, of course, it was the black hedgehog himself—but pale...very, very pale. I feel sick. I wish I knew this sooner. I could've done something to prevent this from _ever_ happening. Why Shadow, why did you do this to yourself? You make me so angry.

"What are you doing here, Faker?" Shadow hissed. I couldn't help but softly smile because he was the same Ultimate Life-Form I last remembered. After being gone for this long, I still couldn't believe he was still the anti-social hedgehog I knew. The only thing that changed is his appearance. He was tired—seeing that his eyes were bloodshot—and looked as if he hadn't eaten in _days_, maybe even weeks.

"I'm here because of you," I retorted pointing a finger at him for emphasis.

"Hmph," Shadow looked at me with disinterest and shooed me away like I was some small bug, "I don't have time for your stupidity hedgehog."

I stubbornly placed my arms on my hips, "C'mon Shadow, you already know why I'm here, and you don't want to argue with me. So, let's skip the arguing and head back down to Earth, okay? Plus, Rouge is worried for you, so that _should_ push you to come back."

Shadow had his back turned to me. I was beginning to think that he was half-listening to whatever I was saying. If he's going to continue to ignore me, I swear I'll be doing more than just shouting at him from behind. To tell the truth, I'm kind of scared to tell him that I'm worried for him. I feel that he might find it...laughable, and he may not even come back on the planet to see us after what I would imagine myself saying. I looked to the metal floors of the ARK not being able to think of a reason as to why he should come back down to the planet. Then I looked out the giant windows that allowed me to see Earth. It was a beautiful planet. Then I began to think about the time I first met Shadow in Time Square. Shadow...the first and only enemy that became a close friend to the end. What was I supposed to do now that I'm stuck between a hard place and Shadow?


	2. Chapter 2: What Hurts the Most

**WHEN DO MY STORIES END CHAPTER 2  
><strong>Chapter 2: What Hurts the Most

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><p>"Why don't you go back to where you came from and hang with your little dopey friends?" Shadow broke the awkwardness with his fierce voice.<p>

I looked back at him from the window and quickly tried to think of a remark, "Really, I come up here to see you, and all you can do is stand there and refuse to listen to me?" I stomped up to him and glared at him the best I could, staring at him face to face. He was a bit taller than me, but that didn't matter because Shadow's life and health was on the line. I didn't even know how Shadow was living up here. I didn't even know if there was any food up here. If there was...I didn't think I would even _touch_ them since they've been in the fridge for _decades_. "Seriously, you have no idea how much you've put your _friend_, Rouge, into. She's in a state of _sick _worry because of you and your attitude! Trust me, I know because I went to see her before I came to see you. Y'know—"

"Ah," Shadow broke, "so she did tell you what I was up to..."

"Well, yeah," I immediately agreed. I honestly had no idea what that had to do with what I was talking about, but I was determined to make Shadow live a better life. Somewhere where he would feel most comfortable. I would be lucky enough if I was able to force him, but he would probably beat me up for that. Still, he deserves _so _much more for what he's done for this planet. He's a hero, and I would look up to him, if I wasn't gifted with speed...forget that thought I couldn't do anything without my speed. I love to run, and that's, _that_. "But that's not the point here!" Okay, maybe that was more for me since my thoughts were getting off topic, but Shadow went ahead and broke another one of my train of arguments.

"I guess she didn't tell you everything."

"Huh?" I became silently confused by the time he had mentioned that I didn't know _everything_ as to why he decided to stay on the ARK. I don't get it. When did he think he had the right to keep me from knowing what he was doing? Chaos, I'm having a headache because of all this thinking, and frustration, and growing worry for Shadow. I need him to answer all of my possible questions popping in my head. Then again, there's a chance that I'll have more questions to ask him.

"You see, Faker, I saved this planet twice now, right?" my dark friend queried, but I didn't answer. It was as if Shadow was reading my mind because he began to explain... I think. "So, there is no need for me to take out any more controversial disasters. You can take care of the rest after me. You're a bigger hero than me after all. You won't be needing me because you have your friends to count on and support you."

"Uh, so you save this planet and then disappear like nothing happened, then you worry your own friends to death? That's just sick! Even for you, I never expected you to stoop this low. What's next, you're going to commit suicide?" I didn't really care what I was spitting out of my mouth. But the last part was supposed to be a joke, a meaningless tease. Just listening to him talk riled me up enough. I didn't like to see him this way—I have to admit—but he's just being stupid for doing this to himself in the first place, and I don't even know if Shadow knows that what he's doing is just..._stupid_.I've said this a million times, and I'll probably say it a million times more. Sometimes, I wonder if he even checked how he looked in the mirror at all. Does the ARK even have mirrors?

"What's the point in doing that? Even if I do go that far, _you_ will be the only one who would try to stop me," Shadow spat back turning away from me with hands frustratingly placed on his sides.

"You know, you're must be pretty stupid for doing something like this," I stated bluntly. Then I slightly flinched expecting a bark or hit from Shadow, but nothing came, so I continued to stand where I was curiously staring at Shadow's back.

Seconds ticked and Shadow turned his head to look back at me. He looked at me like he was serious or planning something devious—I wasn't sure. But he looked like he meant business, and he wasn't going to be joking around with me. It was kind of creepy the way he was looking at me. His blood-red eyes seemed to be dull for a moment. "Since you brought that thought up, why don't you kill me instead? Nobody would have to know, and you wouldn't have to worry about me anymore, especially Rouge."

The next thing I knew, he pulls out a gun from within his quills and holds it out for me; he wanted me to take it.

"_WHOA!_" I instantly jumped back. _Seriously_, I jumped back. I kind of hit the giant window sill on the way too, but I panicked like there was no tomorrow. To tell the truth, I'm _terrified_ of those things, except for water guns and when I'm dodging their range of fire because I like teasing Death, but _holding_ guns? No! I'll be too terrified to pull the trigger!

Heheh, funny how a hero like me could be terrified of holding guns, let alone firing'em. It's just not my fighting style. Speaking of which, I just remembered reading some article that one gun would blow your hand off if you "accidentally" set off the fuse for the bullets or something on a revolver. Anyway...I'm _not_ going to shoot Shadow!

"Y-You expect _me_ to kill you? Hey, _I'm_ the hero! I'm supposed to prevent that from happening to _you!_" I shouted. What, in Chaos' name, is going through Shadow's head? I came here to let him know that his friends are terribly worried for him, and he decides that it would be okay to just kill himself without even saying a goodbye. The only twisted thing about his plans is the fact that he's going to have the _hero_ do the killing. I can't even reason with him, _especially_ when I mentioned his best friend. I thought Shadow was more logical than this. The Shadow I knew was supposed to be stubborn, smart, fast, confident, strong, proud of his own powers and abilities and completely, _completely_ anti-social, and why did I just name all that stuff without a problem?

Other than taking a chance to listen to my words, Shadow ignores me completely and advances toward me with his gun in still hand. I was beginning to panic. He really wanted to go through with this. He took a hold of my hand and placed the gun in it. I lightly blushed because he was holding my hand, but then the other side of me—that was stronger—was panicking because I was holding a gun and was about to be forced to shoot a dear friend. I didn't want to do this. I'm completely terrified of weapons. I wanted to drop it right then and there, but Shadow wouldn't let go of my hand. I looked up at him, and he looked at me. He had no signs of fear...at all. I couldn't be able to decipher what he was feeling because his eyes were _lifeless _it was scaring me a bit.

"Shadow, you can't be serious!" I shouted. I was panicking and thought that I was going to draw near to hyperventilating. I wanted to run away, but I couldn't because I was too scared to move my legs thinking that I'd accidentally pull the trigger and shoot Shadow.

"But I am," Shadow whispered not looking at me but at the gun. He didn't even seem to notice my fear of weapons although I mentioned that I wasn't too fond of them when we were saving the Earth from the invasion of the Black Arms. He went ahead and took my finger and wrapped it around the trigger. Sweat was starting to form around my forehead and my hand—the one holding the gun—and my glove wasn't even helping with the situation either, drawing more sweat. I had no doubt that Shadow was able to feel the heat rising from my hand too, but, knowing him, he didn't want to comment. He was really going to force Sonic the Hedgehog to shoot him.

He took one look at me, staring at me, my eyes. For sure, he was able to sense the fear I was going through right now, and I felt pathetic for being in this situation. It's just so out of character for me! Anyway, Shadow didn't even give a second thought about what was going to happen to him. He took my hand that was holding the gun and pressed it chest against it.

Once it was positioned, I could tell how much he wanted to die because he was clutching my hand ever so tightly. I was scared. For my life...and his. I didn't want to do this in the first place. So many lives were lost at the metal shells of a gun, and I didn't want to remember losing Shadow to the deadly weapon especially when _I_ am the one holding it.

"Go ahead...shoot me," Shadow whispered into my ear. "I am an easy target Faker...and always was..."

I was beginning to feel awkward because he was invading my personal space, but it felt warm...and awkward. I felt his other arm wrap around me. I was guessing he didn't want me getting away since I was a slippery thing—as usual, but this was getting out of hand, I didn't want this, and it just didn't feel right. I struggled to get out of his grip. I tried to wriggle myself out from his grasp. He had a tight hold on me, then I had no choice but to knee him in the groin. That worked. His reaction was the same as any other guy. Bent over, hands pressed in between their legs, but Shadow didn't fall to the floor. He was angry but didn't return the favor. He just gave me his trademark death glare while trying to ease the pain.

"I'm _not_ going to shoot you, Shadow!" I looked down at him. I was really disappointed in him. Wouldn't Maria feel the same? I didn't think Maria would like the thought of her childhood friend dying like this. I know I wouldn't...

Shadow straightened himself, recovering from the impact and looked at me, "Hmph, I knew you'd say that."

I relaxed a bit from the tension and apologetically looked at him. I threw the gun behind me and walked up to him, "C'mon Shadow, let's forget about all this and just...come back to us. You know you're better than this. You're stronger and independent if you leave—"

"I'm _not_ leaving!" Shadow shouted. He was looking at me with anger and sadness visible in his eyes.

"But...why?" I couldn't stop myself before asking that because I was beginning to have a second thought that maybe he shouldn't tell me why.

"Because...I promised myself I wouldn't," Shadow argued back. His eyes were burning. He was actually going with his word? "And you're not going to change that, I'm going to stay here...locked up like I should be..."

I heard something break. Was it glass or was it my heart? Something had to break to make me feel so...hurt, angry and sad for that _damned_ hedgehog. Reasoning with him won't work, just like what Rouge had said. Shadow is talking to someone he would rather kill. Could I really be the one who could knock some sense back into him, but I feel as though I've already failed once I laid my foot on to the space colony.

"Well, I was hoping you would come down because...I really did like racing and fighting with you. I started to wonder why I liked to do these activities with you, and I came up with the thought that maybe you were the only one who would match, or outmatch, me," my voice was raspy, and I seemed quiet. I didn't know what was happening. "And I still wished that we could be close friends, I was hoping to get to know you more, to be able to help you. I wanted to be there for you as much as I could, and I wanted to prove to you that I'm not like those "pathetic" humans. I am just as much different from them as you are to the humans. Even GUN wanted to hunt me down when I first made my appearance as a hedgehog traveling at supersonic speed. They would even go as far as to hurting my friends! _You_ should know by now that I can't leave anybody along! I have to save someone, or I'll lose my sanity. Ever since I heard that you were staying up here, I wanted to do something to convince you to not stay up here any longer. Your new family, your true friends, they want you to feel better. I know we don't know you very well, and I don't know if the others want to. But I'm certain, that I want to know more about you, so I could understand you better Shadow. So I could help you heal, make you feel better, and..."

I took a deep breath. My tears were coming loose. My hands were clenching. I could even feel my nails pinching through the cloth of my gloves and poking my skin. I was shuddering, just by tiny bit. Then, I continued where I left off, "Instead...I come up here to find out that you would rather be dead."

There was a long silence in the room, and I didn't know if I told him what I really wanted for him. I told him everything, didn't I? Did I say too much, or too little? Was it worth it? Was it clear enough? Will he change his mind? I listened intently for his answer. For any response. I didn't care. Even a hit to the head would be acceptable, I just needed something to help me confirm that he heard _every_..._single_...word I said.

He didn't say anything.

He just stood right in front of me and looked at me. Stare at me with his cold eyes. Cold...empty eyes. I wondered what it would look like if my friends and I were able to restore the life he once had in those red eyes. I wanted to see him come alive and be happy, but he's being complicated and won't even give me a chance to help him. Sometimes I wondered if he ever wanted a life.

Yes. He did, but he wanted it with his dear friend, Maria. Could it be that he wanted to spend his life up here because Maria wasn't down there? What does he want, other than to end his life? Oh how much I wanted to be able to make him happy for once in his life. I guessed I could never be a match for his friend. I should give her credit... I could never be able to compete with her... But...

He needs someone.

He wants someone.

Someone to stay by his side.

Someone who would take care of him and understand him.

He just doesn't know it.

Do I know what he needs? Do I even know what to do to get what he needs? Am I good enough?

I dropped to my knees. My hands clapped against the metal floor. "Shadow, why won't you answer me?" I screamed. Logically, to the floor, but I was directing it to Shadow. I didn't want to look up to see his reaction to my despair. He wouldn't even feel sympathy for me. He said that everytime we met, everytime I offered to be his friend. He didn't feel for me, _especially_ me. "_Damn it Shadow! _Stop being the jackass you are and say something!" I continued. "Can't you see that _I _need you?"

...

Rethinking what I just said, I realized I spilled something that wasn't supposed to come out of my mouth. The last part was _way_ out of line! I overdid it, but whatever I said rang true; I couldn't do everything by myself. Without my friends, I would be hopeless...probably even vulnerable. I would have nothing to fight for. I would think that sometimes when I feel that I've failed; I'm so pathetic, I know. I wonder what Shadow thought of me—other than an "imposter". I was scared, but I needed some kind of reaction. At the same time, I didn't. It felt more like I was staring at someone who had died and was haunting me. A ghost who wouldn't leave me alone. A ghost who continuously sought for _my_ help and that was _definitely_ Shadow, but he wouldn't say it in person.

I intently watched Shadow from where I kneeled. He stood there, like a statue. There was no sign of surprise—or anything—on his face, nothing that _I _could detect. I didn't know what to think. Would he change is mind, or will he stay here for the rest of his life? I just didn't like the way he kept his dark, blank crimson eyes glued on me. He wants me gone. He doesn't want me to be a part of his life, and that's all he could _ever_ say about me. Never wanting me to do anything and everything in his life, but he never came to my face and said that to me. I just wanted to help him, and he just keeps pushing me away. Was I really helping Shadow in the first place? What was it that kept me close to him but so far away?

"Go home hedgehog," my ears perked up at the sound of Shadow's voice. My eyes once again taking another glance of him, but I only got to see him turn his back to me without any sign of regret. Is that all he had to say? I expected the opposite. Am I listening right?

The next thing I knew, I began to cry...silently whimpering. I was at least a bit hopeful since I wasn't _balling_ my eyes out and wailing like a new-born baby. My face was hidden in my hands. Shadow, on the other hand, didn't even come to comfort me. Instead, he took a step and walked away. He left me in this room to cry. I wandered to myself if he would give this a thought, and I bet he would because the last thing he witnessed was his long time rival...crying on his knees...on the ARK...for him.

**XXXXXXX**

I found myself Chaos Controlling back to my home. I dropped the emerald to the ground and crashed on the couch. My body just fell over the arm with my head diving into the cushions. I left myself in that position for awhile. To think I would leave the ARK with my head held high, but my pride had somehow...drastically dropped. I didn't even want to see Rouge. I didn't want her to be disappointed in me, and I know I couldn't hide things forever. Rouge is good at reading expressions. I actually thought that Shadow and Rouge were very close, like a family. They watched out for each other continuously. When Rouge was down in the dumps, Shadow would be there to save her; the same goes for Rouge as well, and I began to wonder how this relationship between him and Rouge ended though.

Then I heard a knock at the door, I was glad. I needed something to distract me from how I was feeling at the moment.

"Who is it?" I slowly lifted myself off from the couch and made my way to the door as if I was drunk or something. It seemed that way because I was swaying this way and that. Maybe it was because of the growing headache that was causing me to be _really_ dizzy. I mean, I did just use Chaos Control, and I usually become dizzy.

"It's me, Tails! I've got to tell you something! Now hurry up before I _freeze _to death!" my little buddy came here to see me, and he sure did sound super excited, yet demanding. How quaint. Although, I wished he visited me another time—like when I'm not feeling so down.

Opening the door, I gave him the most sincere smile I could muster. "What's up buddy?" I asked. Though, right now, just seeing him might actually make the rest of my day. Shadow may have ruined my mood, but I can't always have one person ruin the day for me. There's always another day.

Tails quickly came in to my warm house sighing in complete relief then found my red emerald on the floor. He turned to me confusedly. I figured that Tails knew something was wrong. I wouldn't just come home and drop the emerald carelessly on the floor like that. Of course, he would see other things on the floor, but nothing as powerful as the Chaos Emerald. It was something that all bad guys and evil villains would do anything to get their hands on. "Sonic, what happened?" he asked walking over to the emerald and taking it off the ground and placing it on the table.

I closed the front door, not wanting the warm to escape the room, and walked back to the couch. I fell back onto the cushions and gave a big sigh. I didn't want to talk about it, and I knew that Tails wouldn't leave me alone until he got what he wanted to know. He's smart, and sometimes being _too_ smart means getting a little nosey. I figured that out all by myself...thanks to Tails. Despite that, I didn't know if I wanted to tell Tails because he'll start worrying for me, maybe even for Shadow.

"_Shadow..." _I thought. His heart must be aching so much. Maria's death can't be the only reason why he's this way because he's been trying to get over her more than once. I was beginning to tear up at the thought of how he still clung to her reminiscence. I wonder how it felt to be lonely. I know I would go insane if my friends were killed that way. I felt my own heart starting to ache at those dark thoughts.

"So...are you going to tell me?" Tails asked with his arms crossed. He was getting impatient, but I was angry at him for pulling me out of my thoughts.

I sighed again, "Umm, why are you here again?"

"Sonic..." he groaned.

We looked at each other for what took like...forever but took only about a minute. Eventually he gave up, I was glad because I didn't have to deal with his nosiness anymore. I just waited for the news.

He sighed, "I was able to figure out where Eggman's hiding."

"Really? That's cool!" Being able to kick Eggman's butt really took my mind off of Shadow's situation. I was literally bouncing with joy on the sofa. "Where is he?"

Tails pressed a couple of buttons on his communicator and up came a holographic computer in mid-air. Then I prepared myself to listen to whatever Tails had to say. He started out by explaining some data he collected from the old computers—that were still functional—from one of Eggman's old bases and connected them to the rest of the information he'd collected from some of the maniac's other bases that I managed to destroy, but not completely. He pulled up several images and excerpts that I only had time to skim through a couple of them. He started to mention that the remaining functioning computers were able to locate Dr. Eggman, since they had a homing device on his whereabouts, supposedly the computers had his DNA. I asked Tails why they had Dr. Eggman's DNA, and he told me that they needed it so they could tell who it was entering and leaving the base.

There were some moments where I didn't understand the terms, so I just nodded for the heck of it. Tails knew that I wasn't really good at large scale vocabulary, but I was thankful enough that he broke it down a bit to the regular cocky, teenager English language. "I was also able to collect information on the security in Eggman's new base, and from what I managed to discover, it's full of high security," Tails finished up.

"Hah, that's never stopped me before," I retorted excitedly rubbing my finger under my nose. That has become a habit nowadays. I looked at Tails to find him worried. "What's wrong buddy?"

"W-Well Sonic, the security is more complicated this time. Eggman really wants to keep you out of his business, and it seems that he's going to do something big if he wants you to stay away this much," Tails informed. He looked at me. I bet he was hoping I would change my mind and give the mission a second thought, but I _really_ wanted something to happen and this could be the _only_ chance I could take advantage of.

I smiled my trademark smile, "No way am I taking this chance to skip out on all the fun, and if you don't want to come with me, that'd be okay! Just give me the info and I'll be on my way!"

Tails sighed and gave a small smile, "Sonic you know full well I'll be coming with you but watch yourself because it's going to be difficult to detect the traps that Eggman set up for you. For the most part, I'll be updating you on Eggman's base slower than usual, so you're going to have to navigate through his base on your own while I try to hack into his computer system to get the map of the place."


	3. Chapter 3: Nothing Good Has Happened Yet

**WHEN DO MY STORIES END CHAPTER 3  
><strong>Chapter 3: Nothing Good has Happened Yet

* * *

><p>"C'mon Tails, hurry up!" I said waiting for Tails in front of his workshop. It was really the garage, but Tails transformed it into a workshop; and it has gone through a lot of changes since his machines and gadgets have been expanding every new adventure we have. I guess I left him behind a little ways back since I got a little <em>too <em>excited to go and beat the heck out of Eggman. Then again, who wouldn't be psyched to take a chance to crack that annoying egg? I know I wouldn't. I looked around to see if I could see Tails anywhere. It wasn't long until my ears picked up the sound of spinning tails. I smiled now that I was able to see him in my view of sight, but it still wasn't worth the wait.

"Sorry Sonic, you kind of...took off without me," Tails panted.

"Well you made it and that's good enough for me. Anyway, are you ready to kick that fat egg's butt?" I asked super hyped to meet with my old "friend". I waited for Tails to answer, but he started to sound like he was giving me a lecture again, so I began to do my usual stretches not even listening to any of Tails' objections and sayings. Usually, he would tell me to stop and think about what I was going to do. Well, right now, I'm thinking about giving Dr. Eggman a rude welcome by destroying his entrance and making the best use of his traps. Then, I would be destroying one of his giant killer robots once I make it to the control room. That's usually the cycle of what I do whenever I let myself in on one of Egghead's bases. The layouts of his headquarters are not the same, but the traps and robots in it _never _change. There's always a small possibility that I would get jumped by a robot, but there's a _huge_ possibility I would destroy that robot before it tries to get me down. Actually, they would never be able to touch me. I can't help but chuckle to myself about that.

"Sonic, are you listening to me?" Tails asked glaring at me. I looked up at him and jumped up on my feet from stretching.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening..." I lied. Then I started brushing away at the invisible dust just so I wouldn't make eye contact with my little brother. I didn't really like it when he started nagging at me, and I thought the nagging usually came from Amy. I guess it wore off to Tails as well because he spends a lot of time with me since Amy is sometimes _clinging_ on to me.

"Alright then, what did I say?" Tails said, now crossing his arms. I looked at him with wide eyes. Did he really want me to repeat whatever he said?

I took a deep breath and held up my finger, "You were going to tell me to think before I act and—"

"Nope," Tails shook his head.

"Um~..."

Tails sighed and uncrossed his arms, "I just want you to watch yourself. I don't want you to get yourself hurt, okay?"

"Tails, Tails, Tails..." I breathed, "you're over exaggerating. All of Eggman's bases are the same no matter what changes he attempts to make to them. C'mon, let's just hop on your bi-plane and head on over to Egghead's base. I'm sure that you'll see that there'll be _nothing _wrong. I'll be running out of there without a scratch or a bruise on me." I smiled at my brother sincerely and walked over to the workshop. I grabbed at the handle of the garage and lifted it open. My grin grew wider at the sight of the Tornado. She was always presented as her best whenever I came to see her. At least, whenever my team is ready to go up against Eggman. Tails walked up to the plane and jumped in the pilot seat—his favorite seat in the small bi-plane. I couldn't help but think that maybe Tails doubted me. I just hope that I could be able to have Tails smile before I go solo into Eggman's robot-filled territory. I did my best to not get that thought engraved into my head and jumped the wings of the plane once I saw the propeller start to spin.

"Ready Tails?" I shouted for him to hear through the roaring sounds of the Tornado's engine.

"Always," Tails smiled, and I gladly returned with my trademark grin and thumbs-up. We were finally flying over to Eggman's base without any further arguments.

The whole time we flew towards the destination, we had barely talked. Truth be told, I didn't even know what to talk to Tails about. Part of me wanted to tell him what had taken place on the ARK, but I decided against it since Tails will be asking me to go into _deep_ detail about it. I looked on forward and saw a jungle coming into view. The area was _filled _with trees and was complicated to find an open area to land the plane, but I had fun looking at the scenery from above. Dr. Eggman always had a tendency to build his base where there were enough plants, sand, snow and etc. to keep his base from being spotted.

Suddenly, I felt the Tornado slowly descending since my feet was losing the feel of the metal wing, and I looked forward to find a small opening. That was probably where Tails was going to land the Tornado. I took a hold of the edge of the wing so I wouldn't go flying off with the wind—even though I would've loved that. I looked over to my right and heard sirens going off. 'Uh-oh, I think we just triggered something,' I thought. I turned to Tails, and he was looking worried as well. "Tails, you're going to have to land this thing quick before we're greeted by Eggman's welcoming party," I announced. It wasn't any different from anything else I've experienced...yet. I would always encounter this whenever it came to invading the doctor's bases, which would make my adrenaline pump.

"Yeah, I figured that when I first heard the sounds of sirens go off," Tails remarked. All I could do was smirk. I couldn't help but sometimes point out the obvious; even Tails would sometimes miss a couple of details. Then at the corner of my eye, I saw a missile coming our way.

"Tails, looks like you're going to have to land the plane on your own, I'll meet up with you when I'm done handling with Eggman's mechanical toys," I said.

"What, what are you...?"

Before Tails could say anything, I jumped leaving Tails' question hanging in the air. All that was in my head was to start teasing Eggman by playing with the missiles that he had launched at us—me, especially. I grinned to myself as I steadily placed my red shoes on to the flying missile. I didn't want to trigger anything since it would explode once came into contact with anything. I surfed across the sky on the missile for some time until I got it to turn around towards Eggman's base. As I was approaching Eggman's base, I heard more missiles firing from behind me. My smile grew. Now, the fun had finally begun. "C'mon Eggman, show me what you got!" I exclaimed in the missiles direction. I turned my attention to in front of me and jumped about a close second before the missile hit a metal wall of Eggman's base along with the two other big bullets that followed after me to create more explosions. I was later blown away by the heat wave. It took me awhile to get myself in the correct position to land. I wasn't too high off the ground to make myself unsteady. I looked up and found debris falling from where the missile had hit the base. I quickly stepped back without having a scratch on me.

I looked around and smirked. I knew Eggman was looking at and listening to me...from somewhere. "Eggman, you _can't_ stop me from doing what I do, it's better if you just quit right now! You could be able to keep your whole base in _one_ piece if you cooperate just this once!" I spat accusingly pointing my finger randomly at the air. After that comment, I felt the ground below me start to shake. It looked like Eggman was going to send his robots to take care of me. I wondered how big they were going to be, then again, he would leave the big ones last for me to fight. Then I heard hisses as holes were created in the grass, I cautiously peeked over it and then pulled back as insectoid robots quickly popped out from them. Their eyes fixated on me. All I could've ever done was smirk. I heard more buzzing sounds from all around me. I was surrounded, but these guys were easy. I jumped and launched myself at them, creating a chain of small explosions behind me. Smoking metal and bits of robot scraps were left on the ground for Eggman to clean up.

"Didn't even break a sweat," I taunted. I clapped my hands in a way as if dust were on my gloves. I shook both of my legs and tapped my foot on the ground. I didn't want to have any pulled muscles coming at me later on. Eggman wouldn't be attacking for awhile, so I would take this time to meet up with Tails and get him to help me navigate through Eggman's maze-like base. My ears perked at the sound of the wind blowing which is then followed by crickets and birds resuming their chirping and singing their songs. Then, I heard my wrist communicator ring. I expected it, since Tails would be the only one contacting me. I pressed the respond button and was happy to be able to see Tails on the little screen.

"What's up buddy?" I smiled.

"Oh, nothing much, I just wanted to know how you were doing and what you were up to," Tails answered. "But, I do need you to hurry up though; I don't know how much time we have until Eggman sends his second wave of robots."

"Ditto," I remarked. Tails nodded and ended connections with me and so did I. Then, I looked around trying to remember the image I had of Tails' chose landmark for the Tornado. Even though my image of it was a little hazy, I headed into the most accurate location I remembered. Of course, there were tracking devices installed into our comms, I didn't really want to use it to help me locate Tails. I had my own map in my head—when it came to remembering something such as land or something worthy to remember. Not a lot of time passed, if you could it time. I didn't think much time passed because there wasn't much of a gap between me reaching Tails and when we were contacting each other. I screeched to an immediate halt when I slid right next to the Tornado. Of course, I found Tails playing with his little navigation gadget thingy. I scowled at myself. He would never put his toys down unless he was told to.

I wiped the expression off my face and jumped up the nose of the bi-plane. "Hi!" I greeted once my feet stomped on the plane. The sudden break in silence startled my yellow buddy a bit. I couldn't help but make a funny face at him. It was always fun trying to scare him. His face was priceless and was worth seeing.

"Sonic, you could've given me a heart attack!" Tails exclaimed. "I already have a lot to worry about!" He was angry, and I just couldn't help but continue to laugh at him. I dropped dead on my butt on the nose of the plane.

"Well, you should pay less attention to your fancy gadgets and pay more attention to your surroundings buddy," I stated cockily. I leaned on my back. Even though where I was resting was quite narrow, I had to keep my balance. It wasn't that hard once I got used to it. I heard Tails grunt to himself. I began to wonder what he was worrying so much about. It wasn't like I was going die tomorrow. Though, that _would _be a scary thought, I didn't want to leave everyone just yet. Especially when I was just beginning to get a better understanding of how Shadow worked and lived, I didn't want to leave and let him continue to live the way he has for the past couple of years. Plus, I would also leave behind so many broken hearts too. I pushed those thoughts aside not wanting to darken my mood when I am excited to foil Eggman's plans. I sat up and looked at Tails again. My eyes softened when I saw him. He works so hard to try and find the safest routes for me to follow as I try to find the main control room and meet Eggman without any distractions or delays.

"Hey Tails, you don't need to worry. I'll make it through just fine. I promise," I reached out and placed my hand on Tails' shoulder.

"Is it too late to turn back now?" Tails asked nervously. My friend having a _tiny_ glimmer of hope that maybe I would give in to the pressure and agree with him. But who was I to say and agree? I wanted him to feel so much better and not have a sick feeling in his stomach, but I wanted so much to do with Eggman. I didn't want to come back the next day and find out that he's gone. I couldn't take the chance, so I shook my head with the usual smile slapped on my face. I looked into his eyes again and noticed him turn away from me. I began to feel a bit guilty, but I couldn't blame him for feeling that way.

"C'mon Tails, we've already came here and made it this far. We've already got this far, there is only one step left to do, and that is to take on Eggman and bust out of here with a victory on our side," I said trying to brighten the mood.

"What if _you_ get injured?" Tails asked.

I sighed, "You're hopeless Tails."

Tails shrugged. Hey, at least I saw a small smile creeping up on his face unless he's only forcing that out for _me _to feel better about my decision to keep moving on.

"I don't mean it in a bad way Tails," I retaliated. "I just don't want you to be distracted with my well-being or else you won't be able to focus on helping me through Eggman's base. I don't want you failing me Tails." I chuckled and brushed my fist up on Tails arm. My smile widened when I heard him laugh along with me. I was finally going to get through with this with no hard feelings. I jumped off the bi-plane and walked off in front of Tails.

I heard some noises in the background, and I knew that Tails was changing the flying plane into a walking robot...with no head. I wondered why Tails never bothered to add an actual body and a head to the robot, but I wouldn't want to get into his business. Then, I heard stomps on the ground, looks like the cyclone was moving. The half-robot and I were moving at the same pace, and I didn't mind about trying to speed up. I wanted to hear a couple of details of Eggman's new base that Tails was apparently blurting out. I was trying to listen, but Shadow just kept coming back into my head. I thought I was going to go crazy if his image wasn't getting out of my head.

"Sonic!"

I blinked myself back to reality. That was all it took to get myself to stop thinking about _him_? I growled lowly. I hated the way I thought sometimes. It made me slow. Thinking always slowed me down. Is that why I always let my friends think things for me? No way, I wasn't that kind of person. There were some times when I had to calculate things myself when I had to go solo. Like, whenever I get sucked into those storybook adventures.

"Sonic!" I looked around and found Tails a distance away from where I was. I didn't know I slowed down, or even stopped walking. I cursed myself angrily. I was right. Thinking _did_ slow me down. After finishing off Eggman, I'm going off to have a _special_ amount of run time. I ran up to Tails.

"What's up?" I waved my hand as I approached.

Tails motioned for me to look at his little computer gadget. I walked up to the cyclone and looked at it. Tails was going to explain a couple of things to me before I head off on my own. Of course, we'll be constantly communicating on each other, but Tails would always want to double check things with me before I go.

"I'm going to download my map of Eggman's base into your comm so you won't have to have much difficulty trying to get through it, but I'll be leading you to Eggman in the quickest way I can," Tails told me. I looked at my comm to see the map. It was a big place. I scanned the image and sighed to myself, looks like I'll be trying to get myself out of those many corridors and hallways once again. If there is _one_ thing I was getting bored of from the fat egg was the way he laid out his bases. "Any questions you'd like to ask Sonic?" Tails asked.

I smiled genuinely. "Other than the fact that you're doing another fantabulous job Tails!" I winked and zoomed off into the drafts. I chuckled inwardly when I saw the light tint of pink on his face. He was always getting flushed whenever he got a compliment. I slid through the vents and then placed my shoes down to slow down when I saw a vent door thing coming up. I was hoping I didn't "crash" into it. The sound would probably echo throughout the whole base. I crawled and looked through the slits. I gasped when I saw a robot walking this way. I regained my composure and pulled myself back into the shadows. I didn't want the walking trash can to see me.

"Tails, how am I going to get out of this draft? The whole hallway is swarmed with robots," I whispered into the comm.

"Just hang in there Sonic, I'm trying to change the robots' directives in your area," I heard Tails say. I also heard some keys clicked. He must be hacking Eggman's files. Seriously, I wonder where he got these skills from sometimes, but they _do_ come in handy. I waited for some time, and then I heard no movement from outside the vent. I peeked out and saw the robots frozen in place. Then I heard sirens go off again. I panicked. Did I set it off, or did Eggman's firewalls detect Tails hacking into his file? I hoped not. I would rather have the robots come after me than charge after Tails.

"Tails, is everything going alright?" I asked. My heart was pounding.

"Um...I didn't do that!" I heard Tails say frantically. "Sonic, I'm going to need you to stay down for awhile. I'm going to try and stop the sirens."

Tsk, forget that! I'm not going to sit here and wait for him to stop everything. I kicked the vent open and hopped out of the drafts.

I swung myself out and looked around. The whole corridor was empty.

"Sonic!" I heard Tails' voice ring from my wrist. I pulled it up.

"Don't worry Tails, it looks like you nor I made the sirens go off," I smiled when I heard the familiar growl, snarling and grunting of an angry guardian down the hallways. I ended the connection with Tails. I just didn't want Tails to hear _everything_ I was willing to do without his consent. I just didn't want Tails worrying about me all the time. I turned a corner and then saw the last remaining robot with a giant whole in its chest. Then it fell flat on its back. I looked up and smirked at my friend, Knuckles. The echidna never did cease to show up at the right, or wrong, time. "Geez, when that siren came on, I was beginning to think Tails didn't do a good job or something," I said with the usual smile. "What are you doing here anyway? Did Eggman fool you again and get you pissed off?"

Knuckles straightened his stance and crossed his arms. "You're one to talk. You just told me you almost had a heart attack," he remarked with a snicker following afterwards. I wasn't really satisfied with the result and shrugged it off. The red echidna was never really good with comebacks. "And no, I came here to get the Master Emerald that Eggman managed to take from me!" Knuckles exclaimed cursing to himself for losing the _precious_ emerald again. I couldn't help but snicker to myself silently. Typical Knuckles.

"Looks like we're both looking for a good beatin' to that Egg-head huh?" I jabbed my friend by the side with my elbow.

Knuckles nodded, and then we both started off to the main control room. I then held up my comm and linked my connection back with Tails' again. I hoped he wouldn't be mad at me for disconnecting our communications. I just thought that maybe the knuckle-head had needed my help on defeated the rampaging robots. I read the green-colored screen, and my eyes shrunk. It said that it couldn't connect to Tails' comm. My whole body became tense. My thoughts began to swell with the idea that maybe Tails was attacked and couldn't be able to communicate with me due to the comm being broken. Then again, the Chaos Energy emitting from the Master Emerald _could_ be the one trying to mess with the wireless signals. I calmed myself and returned the screen back to the map that Tails had downloaded into my comm. Looks like I'll be doing this on my own...again. I turned to Knuckles, "Looks like we're going to have to navigate through this place on our own Knux!"

"What? You can't connect to Tails?" Knuckles exclaimed.

"I guess Eggman's that Master Emerald to use," I remarked, but my friend's response wasn't good. I knew that whenever Eggman got his grease-filled gloves on the Master Emerald, nothing can be good. I held my breath for a while hoping nothing too bad will occur. "But don't worry, I have the map that will—" I stopped mid-sentence when I heard another siren go off. I was beginning to grow tired of hearing those ear deafening sounds. Usually I would be gettin' warnings from Tails by now, but since I couldn't get anything from him, I'll be stuck in the hallways fighting one swarm of robots after another with Knuckles.

"I thought Tails would tell you where each trap was!" Knuckles spat at me.

"Well, I can't connect to him at the moment, so we're going to have to get to Eggman the long way," I shouted. Down the hallways, I could hear robots coming in from both directions of the corridors. I gave myself a couple of stretches before I went to fight. "You ready for a battle?"

"Of course, I'm always looking forward to making dents into those robots," I heard Knux cracking his knuckles. I rolled my eyes. He was stretching as well. If there is one thing that I find good about being partnered with him is the fact that it was hard to take him down—unless it was me. He's gullible and all, but he makes up for it by his deadly punches. Knuckles and I were standing in our places for not too long when the robots came and stopped about a few yards away from us. It almost seemed like there was a perfect circle around us. I scanned our enemies and a toothy grin found itself forming on my face. Mentally, I heard a countdown in my head as if it were a race...

_**3...**_

...but it was a battle. A war against life and robots.

_**2...**_

I was getting excited. My body was begging for some robot beating, and I knew that Knuckles was waiting for the first move to be made.

_**1...**_

It didn't matter when and where it came from just as long as we were able to fight.

_**GO!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Let it Burn

**WHEN DO MY STORIES END CHAPTER 4  
><strong>Chapter 4: Let it Burn

* * *

><p>Knuckles and I jumped around the crowded corridor, dodging whatever attacks were shot or thrown at us. Eventually, there was a good pause in their attacks, and I took the chance to coil into a ball and use my homing attack on a couple of robots that were close to me. Every now and then, I would uncoil and kick a robot when they would least expect it. One of the robots actually tried to <em>grab<em> at me, and I laughed at it for attempting that trick 'cause I placed my shoes on its shoulders and jumped off it to have Knuckles punch the heap of metal in the face. The robot's head swiveled for a while making the wires in it become tangled and twisted. It later short circuited and blew up. The robot army that had tried to surround us had now only been reduced to a few in minutes. Knuckles and I took out the last few easily.

After a while, I scanned the corridor to see a pile of metal with some steaming robotic parts. The corridor was also damaged, somewhat, due to the battle that we had not too long ago. I admit that I tend to be reckless when it comes to fighting, but Knuckles does too, so I'm not the only one to blame here. Then, I realized that the robots weren't even _trying_ to defeat us. They didn't even _attempt_ to attack us directly. Of course, I saw a couple of bullets, missiles, lasers, bombs and punches coming at us, but it was like...they were meaning to miss us on purpose. My fur stood up on end. I wasn't getting a good vibe at all.

"We better get a move on and not waste time fighting other robot armies that come our way," I stated, and Knuckles nodded.

The echidna went on ahead of me just so he wouldn't fall behind. I looked around at the scraps of metal on the ground. Then my thoughts drifted off to Tails. I hoped he was okay. I wonder what he was doing anyway. My eyes averted down the curved hallway and didn't see Knuckles. The red-head actually covered some ground but that didn't mean he would get too far from me. I sprinted off after him. I looked down at the map and found that we had to make a sudden turn somewhere in the hallways. I cursed myself. I should've still been in the lead, but then I wondered if my comm would be able to link with Knuckles'. I'm kind of glad that Tails also built one for Knuckles. It's sometimes hard to get into touch with the echidna when we're looking for him.

"_Cross your fingers, Sonic,"_ I prayed. I pressed one of the buttons to have me contact Knuckles. I waited for some time, and the screen read that it couldn't connect. I gave a mouthful of a sigh out. Then, I told myself that I'll just have to go after Eggman myself. Knuckles is strong enough to take care of himself, and I should know that because I've been at the end of his spiked fists before. I looked down the path I was supposed to take and changed to look down the path that Knuckles had taken. I shrugged to myself and followed the map's directives. I raised my comm up to my face again and did my best to read the map. The map's image was getting static. I kept pressing the "reset" button to put the image back in order, but it kept getting interrupted.

I immediately stopped running when I saw the familiar insignia of Eggman's face on the screen. I figured it all had to do with the Eggster. He was playing with me _and_ my friends. The usual. Then the image transitioned to the real Eggman. Fancy mustache, red coat, finished with his magnificent lab glasses. Duh, I'm being sarcastic. I cringed when he laughed. Why didn't he have a laugh similar to all other villains? He was like an evil Santa Claus or something whenever he'd laugh, and I remember that one time when he did dress up as Santa Claus and try to ruin Christmas. It was kind of funny seeing him in a Santa outfit. For some reason, it really suited him. An evil Santa... Or he could be like Santa's evil twin, and I laughed at my last thought.

"Oh, ho-ho-ho~! How have you been, Sonic?" I heard Eggman say. I just looked at him like I expected him to know the answer. There was an awkward silence for some time, and then Eggman started laughing again. I actually began to think what _was_ funny.

"Tell me where you are Eggman, and where have you put the Master Emerald?!" I spat, almost sounding demanding. If someone else were to watch me from afar, they would've thought I was mad since I was screaming at my wrist but there wasn't, so I was okay; and I'm not mad or insane. Eggman waved his finger at me through the screen while shaking his head. I tapped my foot impatiently waiting for him to tell me what he had planned. He was always stupid enough to reveal his plans before reaching the half point or climax of the adventure.

"I don't know what you're talking about Sonic. Why would you think that _I_, Dr. Eggman, would take the Master Emerald out from under our dear friend Knuckles?" Eggman clasped his hands and dramatically looked at me. I scowled at his response. He and I knew that he was only playing around. Soon, Eggman cleared his throat and returned to business. "Listen, and listen well blue hedgehog because this will be the _end_ of you."

"You've turned into a big time villain doctor!" I stated sarcastically, and he grinned evilly in returned. I watched the screen, waiting for what surprise he had in store for me, then my mouth gaped open when I saw Knuckles unconscious by the Master Emerald. So he did manage to find it, but why was he unconscious in the first place. There must've been some kind of invisible field shielding the Master Emerald away from anyone who would try to touch it. The echidna must've been too stubborn to find another way to get to the Master Emerald. Typical. I growled lowly finding out that Knuckles was unconscious, and just before the video had transitioned back to Eggman, I saw a little bit of movement coming from Knux. I became a little relieved to find out that the Knuckle-head was still hanging on.

"Ha, you think _that_ will slow me down?" I retorted. Eggman waved his finger at me and started laughing again. What was up with villains and laughing?

"Head on forward blue hedgehog, the next room will be where you'll draw your last breath," Eggman replied. Then the link with Eggman disconnected. Then, I continued to look blankly as the screen. Then, I saw a signal. A signal? I typed in Tails' code and hoped that my comm was able to link with Tails. I needed to inform what had happened just recently. Luckily, I was able to see my little brother's face again. When he saw my face, I was sure he wanted to reach right through the screen and strangle me like mad. I couldn't help but chuckle, although I was a little sorry for keeping him hanging.

"Sonic, I've been trying to get a hold of you for _half an hour!_ What happened to you?! Did Eggman get you? ...Well, it doesn't like it, but what happened? You have to tell me why you just disconnected the link!" Tails blabbed. I smiled at just hearing his voice. I had to admit that I really was growing a little worried for him, too, but I'd never say that. Tails and I never really disconnected for very long. I started walking down the small, narrow hallway, making sure to follow the path that the map had chosen out for me.

"Tails, I was pretty much occupied with getting Knuckles' attention, and I didn't really want you butting in on our conversation. After Knuckles and I got a little acquainted with each other, I tried to get back to you but there was interference. That's why I couldn't be able to link back with you," I replied.

"What do you mean—Wait...you don't mean that Dr. Eggman managed to take the Chaos Emeralds? I would've been able to detect them with my radar!" Tails exclaimed. I then heard some shuffling and typing in the background. I was about to inform Tails about Eggman managing to take the Master Emerald from Knuckles again, but my thoughts shifted to my surroundings. I noticed that I had walked into what seemed like an empty room. It looked more abandoned than empty... Honestly, I felt like I was a cop or detective having been called in on one of those crime scenes 'cause there were a lot of papers randomly settled on the ground. There bad lighting in the room, along with some, what seemed like, violently torn off limbs of robots on the ground.

I didn't know exactly what Eggman expected me to do here, but I was sure he wanted to have a showdown with me. He made it seem like it was going to be some kind of _special_ battle. I didn't know whether or not to notify Tails about it, but I guessed Tails would find out by the time I—

"_Sonic,_ something fast is coming your way!" I heard Tails' voice cut through my thoughts. I snapped my head round and heard some hissing down the hall. The hissing sounded really familiar, like an engine. An engine that hisses? As I looked down the hallway, and saw a silhouette of blue. I thought everything around me just went by in slow motion just for me to realize who my opponent was going to be. Metal Sonic? I thought Eggman got rid of him after our last encounter with him.

I blinked myself out of my short trance, and at the last second, I jumped to the side almost avoiding Metal Sonic's outstretched claws. I only got a small scratch on my side from him, and I couldn't help but hiss lowly. I twisted my body round before I landed back on my feet. My teeth clenched and watched Metal Sonic. At first, I thought the metal look-a-like would crash into the wall but immediately came to a stop at the other end of the room probably a few centimeters before touching the steel wall. He flew upward carefully decreasing his speed. He turned himself around, and then his engine began to quiet, letting him slowly touch the ground. Once that was done, he glared right at me with his robotic, evil eyes. I heard heavy doors on all four sides of the room coming down from the ceiling; they all fell at the same time, making the ground shake just slightly. The whole room was sealed shut.

All I could do was stand in place and look straight at metal with the cocky stare I always gave him, and he would do the same except with a more aggressive nature. I felt my hands beginning to sweat from underneath my gloves. The suspense was killing me. I wanted some response from my metal look-a-like, but he didn't do anything. Then, I saw a giant screen come into view. Looks like another message from the doctor.

Ugh.

He was, of course, grinning down at me, and I could only grin cockily back at him.

"Surprise, surprise Sonic! I thought it'd be okay if I brought back Metal Sonic since he seemed to be the one robot you had trouble in defeating," Eggman exclaimed.

"Tsk, I've defeated Metal a lot more times than you could count. He's just too stubborn to admit defeat," I retorted. "So, what's up? Too afraid to battle me yourself, Egghead?"

I watched Eggman's toothy smile turn into an annoyed look. I grinned inwardly just looking at him trying to think up of a way to respond to my earlier statement. "I have only chosen Metal Sonic to battle you to see how much you have improved from your last encounter with him. I have managed to restore the memory of when he gathered you and your friends' abilities back when and let him fight you again. He's been _begging_ to see you fall on your knees," Eggman dramatically explained. "So I thought, why not now? This would be the best moment. To see one of my _greatest_ accomplishments, finish you off. This version of Metal is _special_. I have managed to fuse Metal's power outlet with the Master Emerald's energy."

I stared at the mad man wide-eyed for some time. Then I looked over to the dark corner where Metal Sonic stood. I wondered how he reacted to the Master Emerald, and the same goes for the giant green emerald. I knew that Knuckles wasn't going to be happy when he found out that Eggman was using it for another one of his _crazy_ experiments. I then looked back up at Eggman and shrugged his arrogance away, "I'll take on anything you dish out Egg-head!" The doctor just smirked then signed out. I fixed my eyes on Metal Sonic.

"So, I heard you missed me," I commented casually, and I knew all too well that Metal could understand me. He just chose not to reply. "Alright, giving me the silent treatment, eh? How about we get right to fighting?"

At that moment, Metal Sonic reactivated his engine and flew right at me. I stood my ground and held up my hands ready to clasp his metal claws. I jumped up at him making the metal monster lose a little control of his flying pattern. I managed to make Metal stay close to the ground, but my back was burning quite a bit but ignored it. We were spinning in the air. Metal Sonic was trying to claw at me, but I kept my hold on his hands trying my best not to get his hands to scratch me or anything.

"Grah!" I hollered. There was a sudden pain in my back, and I assumed that Metal had pinned me against a wall. Immediately I lost the firm hold on the other me, and he pushed his hand against my face. I growled and snarled. I knew what he was thinking. He wanted to smash my head into the wall, but I wasn't going to let that happen.

"**Give in to defeat Sonic**," Metal said. I felt him take his free hand and held it close to his face. My vision was beginning to blur a bit, so I decided to take some drastic measures. I managed to get my arms to move and punched one of Metal Sonic's eyes out. My ears twitched when the metal monster screamed...well...in a robotic way. I blinked a couple of times to get my eyes to start working right, and then charged at Metal while ignoring the growing headache. Metal Sonic "sensed" me coming his way and quickly moved to the side. I was going to change directions until I felt cold, metal hands grasp at my neck. I choked on my own air and saliva. I needed to cough, but I couldn't. I blinked my eyes open a bit and saw Metal's other hand transforming into some gun. Dr. Eggman must've added some new accessories to him.

"_Tsk, that bastard,"_ I thought, smiling to myself.

"**Yes, I believe he is. Even though I would've enjoyed having your blood covering my hands, I guess this could work as well since you'd still be dead under my doing**," Metal hissed, and all I could do was chuckle at him.

"C'mon Faker, show me what you've got!" I choked out, still with the usual grin on my face.

"**I'd be glad to**."

I heard a couple of clicks then a loud roar erupted from someone coming off from my left. I was losing air and my vision was blurring, so I couldn't see who it was; but I was able to recognize the battle cry. I felt the grip on my neck loosen, and I fell to the ground breathing heavily and choking while I gasped for air. I looked up and saw my friend, Knuckles, punching Metal's muzzle like crazy. I smiled lightly, glad that Knuckles came just in time.

Then, I heard my comm come back on, and of course, it was Tails. I coughed one last time before greeting him, "What's up...buddy?"

"Sonic, what happened to you?! I left connection with you for a little bit, and you're almost beaten to death!" Tails exclaimed.

"Ah, don't worry bro, I'm doing just fine," I stood up. The only pain I had was the growing headache. I wasn't going to feel good after this battle.

"Sonic, you have to get out of there fast! I detected a bomb somewhere in the room you're in!" I held my breath in for a second then looked around. "Wait, it's moving!" Tails added.

"Wait, how can a bomb...move...?" Then, the thought hit me. I looked straight at Metal Sonic who had just managed to kick Knuckles off of him. My metal counterpart must've had that bomb installed into him. I ran towards Knuckles who was about to launch another powerful punch at Metal. For me being the fastest thing alive, I managed to stop the fist from connecting with Metal's chest. Metal Sonic was in a pretty bad shape, and he looked like he was about to let himself blow up. Great, one of my greatest enemies/rivals has turned suicidal...with the exception of Shadow. I managed to stop him.

"Knuckles, we have to get out of here quick! I think Metal Sonic has a bomb in him," I exclaimed.

"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner, we could've already been out of here!" Knuckles roared. He motioned for me to follow him to the giant sized hole he made in the metal walls. I wondered how he was able to find me because I thought that he was too busy trying to save his _precious_ Master Emerald. Then, I began to wonder what Eggman was _really_ up to. For sure, he was trying to kill me since he had placed a bomb into my opponent. I couldn't help but think horribly at the thought. If I had continued to fight with Metal, I would've continued until the bomb went off. I guess I was just too lucky for my own good. Having a lot of luck is good for a hero. All heroes need luck, and I have a lot of it.

"Alright Sonic, I have had a good scan of Eggman's base, and it seems that he had made a run for it. He doesn't seem to be anywhere in the base anymore," Tails informed. "I've also detected more bombs, and now your escape out of the base will be a little more complicated since there will be armies of robots waiting for you at each sector and exit."

"Great, just great Tails, you just had to share this information with us. I was beginning to think that we were done with bombs too," Knuckles said. I couldn't help but snicker at my red-furred friend.

"Alright buddy, show us the path to the quickest escape route," I said with a big grin on my face. There was a feeling of excitement coming from all over my body. The familiar feel of adventure developed. I began to break into a run with Knuckles trailing behind me. My ears perked at the sound of the beep from my comm. I pulled my wrist up and looked to see the escape route I was supposed to take with Knucklehead. My smile widened, and I jumped a ways back and grabbed my red friend's hand and sped down the halls since the ceilings behind us were beginning to cave in thanks to the robots who were trying to slow us—me—down.

Suddenly, a sound that came from behind caught my attention; I looked to my side to be tackled by my robot friend. I screamed because of the sudden pain and because Knuckles' hand slid out my grasp oh so suddenly.

"Sonic! What's going on?" I heard my fox friend's voice come from my comm. I gasped when Metal Sonic pressed me against the wall again. I didn't have the time to answer Tails because I was kind of busy trying to loosen the choking hold Metal Sonic had on me. We were pretty much having a silent argument by fighting with our gazes—well, I was trying to keep my eyes open. Both of us were thinking of the same things, we wanted to see who would be able to make it outside first even though my metal counterpart was going to explode, and I didn't want him to drag me down with him.

I heightened my strength and successfully made a small gap between his metal claws and my neck. Even though I didn't have good upper body strength, I managed to make a swift escape. Just as I freed myself from Metal, I curled into a ball of spikes and charged at him hoping to weaken him by just a bit. Any amount of damage on him would buy me time to get back to Knuckles, so I rammed him onto the floor and bounced away from him charging toward the opposite direction.

As I was making distance between me and Metal, I went to go look for Knuckles. I really hoped he was okay. After all, I did just suddenly drop him somewhere in these long, red illuminated hallways. My eyes searched for my red friend, and luckily, he wasn't too far from where I was almost strangled to death. The only thing I hoped for him is that he wasn't unconscious. I didn't literally want to carry him out of Eggman's base; it would only slow me down...just a tiny bit. I kneeled beside him and shook him awake. I gave out a sigh of relief that he was still conscious after that stumble with Metal and because I wouldn't have to carry him out. I helped him pick himself up, and just as soon as he realized I was helping him, he immediately snatched his arm away from around my shoulders. All I could do was smirk.

"Do you think you can hold up by yourself? I don't have much time to talk, but Metal's going to be here any second, and I need you to get out of here and take Tails with ya no matter what. Okay?" I asked cautiously, looking around for any sign of my metal counterpart.

"Wait...you're not coming?" I heard Knuckles ask.

"_Of course_ I am! I just need to settle things with Metal. Now get out of here before the base collapses on top of us!" I shouted nudging Knuckles forward towards the direction of the supposed exit. I knew that he couldn't come up with anything else to protest against me, so he left. I sighed with relief and pressed a button on my comm to look at the map of the base. I sped off back towards the direction where Metal was. I needed to stall him, and then I'll find my way out. I heard Metal Sonic making his way towards me. His metal shoes heavily clanking against the metal floor. I was hopeful enough his jet pack didn't work so he wouldn't be able to charge at me anymore.

Once we made eye contact with each other. I quickly charged a Spin Dash and sped after him with all the speed I mustered in that one attack. And as I expected, Metal's computer thing was too slow to calculate what was happening, thanks to Knuckles mercilessly punching him. I unrolled myself and flipped back onto my feet and watched Metal tumble backwards down the hall.

With his mimicking lightning fast reflexes, he managed to get back up on his feet. I smirked and then continued to run down the hall trying to find my own way out of the base with Metal Sonic trailing behind me. I haven't forgotten about the bomb that was implanted in his body, nor the several bombs hooked around Eggman's base. A bead of sweat began to crawl down the side of my face. I really wished I had my Chaos Emerald with me. I really did... At the moment, all I had to do was keep as far a distance away from Metal to not further trigger the bomb inside him.

My ears twitched, I heard explosions developing behind me. The bombs have just been set off. I sped up not wanting to get caught in the flames. I heard Metal's jet engine trying to function. I heard buzzes and several robotic movements coming after that. Then, I heard a sonic boom and that gave me a sign that Metal had managed to get his engine to work again. I cursed within my growl. Why did his jet engine have to work at a time like this? I took in another breath of air and sped off at higher speeds. I wasn't going to let Metal Sonic catch up with me.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Metal Sonic nearly approaching me. I stepped to the side not wanting him to try and grab at me again. Metal was fizzing and sparking like crazy. I took the chance and boost forward, making a good distance between me and my metal counterpart again. Then, I quickly halted and twisted my body around to face the speeding robot and then charged my Spin Dash and quickly released after him. I hit him square in his chest and launched him into the bursting flames heading our way. I managed to slow my momentum by uncurling myself and landing on my feet. Metal Sonic continued tumbling backward until he was enveloped into the flames. My eyes narrowed, and I turned back to the direction I came from, not wanting to burn my skin and hide once. I continued speeding off towards the unknown exit.

And honestly...I didn't sense a difference in Metal Sonic's fighting patterns. They seemed the same to me even after Eggman told me that he was fused with the Master Emerald's Chaos energy...


	5. Chapter 5: Hero

**WHEN DO MY STORIES END CHAPTER 5  
><strong>Chapter 5: Hero

* * *

><p>"<em>Damn! Where the Hell are you, exit?" <em>I asked myself, growling lowly. I haven't been called by Tails—either that or Tails was attempting to communicate with me—and the base looked like it wasn't going to hold up any longer. Everything I saw was red and in flames. The sirens were going off at every corner of the base, and I thought that my ears were going to bleed. I was beginning to think I had gotten deeper into the base than to have gotten closer to the outside. Everything was being enveloped by flames around me. Burn marks were making themselves visible on my blue fur.

"_This base of Eggman's is huger than I thought!"_ I continued to run while I thought to myself. It was weird having a conversation in my head, but it was the only bright thing to do at a time like this. _"I hope Knuckles managed to get out of here safely..." _my mind rolled over to my echidna friend. I mean, I did tell him to get on ahead of me. Shaking my head, I wouldn't let myself think any more negatively than I already was. I didn't want to think about me not being able to return to Tails and the others; that would mean that I broke my promise to him, to Tails. I said that I'd return to him all in one piece, scratched or not!

With my newfound determination, I sped off down the halls. I would've used my spin dash to saw through the walls, but there was a high possibility that I would hit a bomb that was placed there. I shuddered at that thought; I wouldn't want to end my life like that. Ugh, got to stay focused. I have to return to my friends. Soon, my mind rolled back over to the subject of my friends, and how important they were to me, _"Tails needs me, and Knuckles needs me even though we don't always meet ends with each other. Heck I would even return to Amy just to see her smile, and Cream too..."_ Then an image of Shadow flashed through my mind.

_Shadow... _

Now, I really wanted to head back. I was just beginning to understand that Faker. I didn't want to stop here. I didn't want him to end his life without me having to stop him. I wanted to show him that there was so much more to life, and I still do. I need to get him out of the Hell hole he got himself into. I want him to treasure the life and friends he has now. No way was I giving up. He was going to be resistant, that's for sure, and we're both stubborn—not a good combination, I say.

My ears twitched at the sound of beeping. The beeping was slow at first, but within seconds, it ticked faster. I didn't slow down to see what it was; I just kept on running forward, jumping over the burning debris and avoiding any dangerous hazards. Just then, the beeping stopped and an explosion erupted from my left, and I felt myself being thrown to the side. My head hit something hard, and it felt like vibrations were sent throughout my brain. It hurt like Hell.

The next thing that happened was that my ears began to ring, and that my head was aching more than ever, plus I was having trouble breathing due to the smoke that surrounded me. There were small flames lingering on whatever they could touch. I didn't know what happened, and I tried to get back up on my feet but couldn't. I turned my head around to see what was going on, and I found hunk of metal sitting on top of me.

I struggled and tried to pull myself out with my upper body. I yelped when I felt more weight on me. UGH! As if I already had enough to deal with already! I'm exhausted, my head is aching, I'm in pain, and I can hardly breathe and...I'm afraid...

Me, Sonic the Hedgehog, afraid? I would've laughed if there was another me standing in front of...me...right now looking down at me. Oh wait, I'm sure Shadow would be laughing at me right now, too. Makes me want to think that he doesn't care about any of us, even if we did manage to become—Wait, do I see blood?

I looked at my hands and blinked a couple of times, wondering where it came from. Then I felt something trickling down my forehead. I pressed my gloved hand against it then brought it back to where I could see. Yes, I was bleeding, from my head. Not now! Of all the times to start bleeding, you decide to do it _now_!

Then, I shrieked again when something else fell on top of the things that were already piling on top of me. I thought I heard something snap from within me. My eyes were blurring. I think I'm...about to...slip into unconscious... _No_, I can't let that happen! I'm a fighter, not a quitter! I looked around and found nothing that would seem to help me out... I was...beginning to think that...my adventuring days were coming to an end...here.

"H-Help me, someone!" I croaked. Wow, my throat is _really _dry, and I was just beginning to notice that, but this was humiliating... My mind kept telling me that no one was going to save me this time. Nobody knew where I was with the exception of Knuckles and Tails, but it would even take them awhile before they could find me... To think that I would desperately ask help from someone that was just so out of character. I would _never_ stoop this low. In actuality, I never saw myself in this desperate kind of situation. I always found myself getting out alive, and the flames were not helping... I was wheezing for oxygen. My head was becoming heavy... I didn't know whether or not my head was up or pressed against the metal floor, or what I thought was the floor. I didn't know what was happening around me, and I didn't even want to know. My eyesight was becoming hazier, and my eyelids were falling downwards. All I could see was red, and the sirens wouldn't stop blearing into my tired ears.

Just when I was an inch away from becoming unconscious, I felt less pressure on my body. What was going on? I felt like my body was able to breathe again after being smothered and crushed, but I was still so weak. Just then, I realized that someone was helping me, but whom? I wanted to know. More of the debris was lifted off of me, and I wanted to turn my head around to see my savior but couldn't because my head weighed a ton to me and refused to move. Could it possibly be Knuckles helping me? Damn it, if it was him, I'd hit him because I told him to get Tails out o' here!

My ears perked towards the sound of a smooth, yet dark, voice. ...Okay, not Knuckles, but whom?

"You're such a nuisance, you know, hedgehog?" I heard the other voice mutter. Whoever, this guy was, he was close, close to my face. I tried to breathe out a word, but I coughed. My dry throat got to me before I could say anything. My eyes clenched tightly shut. My chest hurt, my body ached, and my head wasn't helping anything feel any better. I groaned a bit when the stranger lifted me from the ground. Who is this person? How did he know I was here? I tried to open my eyes. I only managed to take a small peek, and my blurry vision caught a sight of black with some strings of fuzzy white.

"Everything will be okay...Sonic..."

My mind pulled a blank, and I finally fell into an unconscious state—still not able to figure out who my savior was.

**XXXXXXX**

"...ing yourself for what happened, it's not your fault Tails," my ears twitched at the sound of a voice. I figured they were talking about me; people always talked about me, but I wondered what.

"Yes it is! I shouldn't have let him go in there! I should've continued to fight against the fact that we shouldn't go straight to Eggman's place. Sonic already looked weary from talking to Shadow, and who knows what happened between the two. I just wanted Sonic to be okay," Tails' voice rang.

"Tails, you did your best, didn't you? It's okay, plus, this is Sonic we're talking about; he'll be okay," I didn't have to guess who said that. Amy just knows how to make everyone feel slightly better.

I managed to let out a groan, but it was a weak one. I didn't know if anyone in the room heard it. I tried to open my eyes and when I did, all I saw was blackness. Was something over them? It felt like it. I shifted a bit in the bed trying to get myself in a more comfortable position, but my muscles were aching like crazy. They were begging for me to stop moving, so I did...for a while. What happened anyway? The last place I remember being was in Eggman's base. I was about to get blown up with it, wasn't I? I was trapped because of that stupid wall that fell on top of me.

Wait a second.

I was saved. Immediately, my reaction was to try and sit up as if everything was just a bad dream. But I could barely move, my muscles were too weak and they ached horribly. I let out another groan, and this time—thankfully—it was louder than the one before. Surely, it reached someone's ears. Darn, my throat was still dry. To think it'd become less painful while I was unconscious, right? I needed to drink something to make it stop aching for moist, and fast. Anyway, who saved me? I tried to remember what had happened. I tried to think of some little detail I had of the person who supposedly saved me, but my brain wouldn't let me think. My headache worsened.

I heard a gasp coming from Amy, "Oh my, I think I heard a sound coming from Sonic! I think he's coming conscious!" And just as Amy said that, I heard a clatter of footsteps come up to my bed if it was even my bed. "Sonic! Sonic! Are you okay? Oh my darling," Amy continued on babbling about me. Ugh, could she at least leave out the _"My darling" _part? I don't like that, and I probably never will. Can't she see that I'm still alive? She needs to stop worrying about me.

"Amy calm down, you know Sonic still needs his rest," I heard Tails say.

"Yeah, I think he already has enough pain to deal with," Knuckles remarked with a laugh afterwards.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Amy squealed. I would've sighed and smacked my forehead if I wasn't in this condition. I believe Tails was doing it for me even if I couldn't really see what was going on around me.

"Ugh...you guys... You really need to learn...how to keep quiet..." God, it really hurt to speak. Slowly, I grasped my neck. I swear, the way my friends spoke could be able to wake anybody from sleep. Why did that have to talk in this room of all places?! Anyway, my voice sounded different. It sounded like I was sick or something as if I like some kind of sick puppy. D'aww, I don't need to be treated like a baby. Not by my friends, especially Amy—even if she had more experience with helping people recover from fighting or illness.

"Sonic, you shouldn't try to talk, more or less try to move either. You're still not well enough to do anything," my little buddy informed while handing me a small water bottle. Too late, I had already tried to do that...like earlier, and every muscle in my body was aching like crazy. Plus, I was trying to sit up once again, but I felt a hand press against my chest. I let out a growl, but it came to sound like someone trying to fake a cough or something. But the hand that pressed against my chest moved away, and I managed to sit up successfully. I unscrewed the cap from my water bottle and drank from it greedily. My conscious was squealing with joy at finally having something cool and moist traveling down my pipes. I did my best not to rush myself.

I never did like being in this condition, especially since I had something covering my eyes this time. Speaking of which, why were my eyes covered anyway? I was confused and wanted to ask, but my throat refused to make a sound at that moment. I sighed mentally. I would have to be bedridden for _days_. The worst part is whenever my friends picked out the person to watch over me. The majority of the time it would be Amy since she loved to be near me, obviously. But, if I was saved by some miracle, and Amy wasn't available, Tails would be watching over me. Then if Tails couldn't be able to, Cream's mom would be glad to watch over me, and sometimes, Cream would be keeping me company. Heh, she would even ask me if I could join her tea party, and everything else just varies. Hmm...I wonder who would be _it_ this time.

"Oh, I'll go and make my dear Sonic some warm soup. You must be ultra hungry~. I'll be right back, Sonikku~!" Amy exclaimed. I felt her give a kiss to my forehead, and my ears perked forward when the sound of her footsteps faded.

"So...what...happened..?" I asked, and Amy better have that soup ready soon 'cause I am hungry like she said. It feels like I've been avoiding food for _weeks_, but I may be wrong because I don't know how long I've been out.

"Save your questions for later Sonic, I don't want you to strain your throat, but I promise to answer your questions when your get better," Tails sighed.

"W-Well...can't you answer me this? How long was I out?"

"About a day, you weren't hurt all too badly," Knuckles answered. "Now then, go rest while Amy gets the soup ready. Tails and I will leave you to rest."

"H-Hey...wait!" my hand immediately went up to my throat, grasping it tightly. Surprisingly, it was still dry after drinking half of the water bottle. Plus, I yelled, so of course it'd hurt! "W-Why are there bandages over...my eyes..?" I heard Tails let out another sigh, but this time, it sounded more...heartfelt. The whole room became quiet. What did I say? Did it have to do something with me? My lips pursed into a slight frown as my annoyance grew. Why aren't they telling me anything? Why am I being kept in the dark about this? It couldn't be that hard to tell me what was with them. I hate this! I wanted to blurt out whatever I was saying in my head.

"Sonic, you need your rest," I heard Knuckles say. I frowned more as I heard footsteps softly thump against the floor. I was guessing that my friends were going to leave me alone to `rest`. I sighed, lying completely still in my bed, or at least, I think it was my bed. Without really thinking about it, my hands reached to my bandaged eyes. I wanted to remove them. What was wrong with them anyway? Why won't my friends answer me? They usually don't act like this. Is this another nightmare that I can't escape from? If so, how do I wake myself up?

Slowly, I tried to feel for one end of the bandages, so I could start removing them from my eyes. Luckily, my arms weren't as sore as the lower part of my body, but it still hurt to raise them up when I was wea—no, not that word—exhausted fits better. Yeah, I was exhausted—oh! I got the bandages to loosen. Now I just need to unwrap it around my head. I used both my arms to support me to sit up once again. I positioned myself so that I was leaning against the headboard of the bed. I sat there panting a bit. I didn't realize I would feel this exhausted from just trying to sit up; I mean, I wasn't like this the first time I did it. I waited awhile to catch my breath. After that, I resumed to unwrapping the bandages around my head.

As I got more of it to unwrap, I felt the bandages loosening around my closed eyes. I stopped the gesture, my arms already tired of being used. Luckily, the bandages were loose enough, and they were slowly sliding down my face. I didn't hesitate another minute and slowly, and easily, opened my eyes. The room was dark, and I couldn't see any source of light anywhere.

I had my head look down at myself and was surprised to not see anything. In fact, I couldn't see anything. I raised one hand up to my face. I made it come close to my face, and I didn't know how close it was getting. Only then did I realize that I poked my eye. I gasped a bit. I closed both my eyes shut and caressed the pained eye. Was the room really this dark? I didn't think so.

Blinking a couple times, I took another look around the room. Still, I couldn't see anything. Geez, what was wrong with my eyesight? Wait...what _is_ wrong with my eyesight? Once again, I made an attempt to try and look at myself. No, I can't be... I just can't.

"No... No, no, no... _**NO!**_" I shouted. Why? Why am I bli—No! I won't believe it! It's just a bad dream. It's not real. I'm probably still asleep on the roof of my house. Fighting Metal Sonic again was not real. Sneaking into Eggman's base didn't happen. Having the look of Tails' worried face was never there; I would never scare him like that, and I didn't want to. I didn't go up into space to meet Shadow because he was still on Earth living in his own private home wherever it may be. I didn't go talk to Rouge... But...everything was so...real. How many times was I going to tell myself that none of this happened? It's clear that it all happened. The evidence was here. It was me. Whatever happened to me, and whatever I was remembering just now, was real.

My ears twitched to a sound in the room and feeling a tiny pinch of Chaos energy appear in the room. At that, I was immediately pulled out of my thoughts. I didn't think I made that noise. It could've been my friends, but they were all somewhere else in the house, and if they did want to come into the room, they'd open the door and greet me warmly. I tossed my head round; it was a terrible attempt to try and see even when I knew I couldn't.

"Who's there? W-Who are you...?" I asked. Crap! My voice cracked, and I blamed my throat for not working right. I turned my head, having my ears point in many directions, as to let the other person know I knew they were here.

"Have you already forgotten all about me hedgehog? I'm right next to you..."

At the sound of the all too familiar dark and silky voice, I drew in a sharp breath and held it. I didn't want to try looking at Shadow 'cause then he'd figure out that something was wrong with me. I did not want to risk embarrassing myself by looking in the completely wrong direction when he was in a completely different spot. What was Shadow doing here anyway? How did he know I was here? Wait a minute... Didn't I hear this voice back in Eggman base? He was the one who saved me? Wow...what a surprise... Really! It surprised me. 1) I would never have expected Shadow to come and save me. 2) Shadow would've been glad to watch me burn to death. And 3) I wouldn't have to get in his way of being the fastest thing alive or mock his reputation as the `Ultimate Life Form`.

"S-So... Why did you...save me?" I asked silently and quite nervously. I wanted to know the answer, but at the same time, I didn't. Who knows what I'd get from Shadow.

I heard a sigh come from Shadow and some shuffling afterwards. He was probably crossing or uncrossing his arms—one of those things I guessed. "Do you always have to ask questions?" Shadow huffed. "You should've known by now that even you need saving..."

"Y-Yeah but...saving me isn't your thing... I mean, I know you've done that some time before, but I thought you were serious about staying on the ARK," I mumbled.

"Son–Faker," Shadow _almost_ called me by my name, and my ears twitch toward his voice. I waited for him to say what he needed to say, unless that was all he was going to say. The silence was stretching which made me feel _very_ uncomfortable. Luckily, I heard Shadow start up again, "...The things you said may have had some...meaning to them..." Shadow's voice had faded towards the end. I almost couldn't hear it, but I managed. I swear I felt some heat in my cheeks, and I think my heart had skipped a couple of beats. I hope my face wasn't noticeable. Okay, what I said about Shadow being mysterious and full of surprises, yeah this is when it comes in. I never expected him to say anything...what, positive? Yeah, positive. I'd never thought of Shadow to say anything positive about me, but then, he has his reasons...

"Well, it's good to know that you have decided to stay," I smiled still keeping my voice at a low. I was kind of looking upward now. I wondered how I looked now. I wondered how my eyes looked. Were they the same shade of green, or were they a grayish green? I don't know...because I couldn't see anymore...

My hands tightened on the bandages in my hands and the blanket underneath them. How was I going to run now? Without my eyes, I couldn't see. How was I going to protect the world from danger? I can't stop evil being blind. I won't be able to know what my enemies are up to. How was I going to be Sonic the Hedgehog? Sonic the Hedgehog! I am a God damn hero for Mobius' sake! I should be able to see! I have been able to pull through the worst of conditions. I was able to stand back up on my feet again and again—and with both of my eyes working fine too!

"_Where is Amy? Where is the soup she promised to make for me? Don't tell me they've completely forgotten about me now..."_ I thought. Okay, I know that was a completely different thought, but I am extremely hungry. Why aren't my friends coming to check up on me? I don't need to rest! I need to _**RUN!**_

Run...

Running was Sonic the Hedgehog's thing...

It is my thing. I saved a bunch of people and many dimensions using the power I had...

I didn't realize 'til now that I was tearing up. I had tears develop through the corners of my eyes, and they were beginning to fall down faster than the one that fell before it. Ugh, this is the second time I've cried this week, and I didn't think a full 24 hours had passed from the last I cried! Why was I so weak back there? Why didn't I run faster? Why did I have to get myself lost in that base? I feel so vulnerable without seeing anything. Anyone can be able to take advantage of me. I don't want to feel this way! I want to fight like I always had—with my eyesight! I don't want to be reduced to standing by the sidelines, not knowing what to do.

"Faker...are you..."

"Don't look at m–ACK!" I exclaimed. I immediately grasped at my throat and turned away from Shadow while my tears streamed down my face. I didn't want to look at Shadow at all. I just couldn't face him, not like this.

Ugh, why did he have to be here? Of all the times he could've visited, it just had to be when I was conscious! But for some reason, Shadow also sounded a bit...concerned. Why, in Chaos' name, would he be concerned for me? The Shadow I knew would be laughing in my face and talking about how weak and pathetic I am, especially in this state.

Suddenly, I felt warm arms wrap around my shoulders. I tensed at the comforting notion. Was it Shadow who was hugging me? I was deeply confused, and I wanted to pull away at the same time; so I did. I wriggled from Shadow's grasp, but he wouldn't let me go. He held me close, so very close. He was warm—I had to admit—and his warmth really made me feel just a bit better. But it also caused me to have unwanted feelings to swarm in me. My heart was oh so broken; I swear it sunk all the way down into my stomach. I was disgusted with myself. Only then did I realize what Shadow was doing.

More tears began to fall from the corner of my eyes, and I began wailing my heart out in Shadow's chest. I gave up in struggling from his hold. I couldn't win this battle in the condition I was in. So many tears were falling down that they seeped through my clenched teeth. I had apparently swallowed the salty liquid... Shadow didn't even know what was making me feeling this way, and yet, he's comforting me... Or did he know? But for now, I didn't seem to remember what I was crying about. I just felt so...heartbroken.

I then felt gloved hands petting my head gently. "Hush, Faker," I heard Shadow mutter, his warm breath passing one of my sensitive ears. My eyes glazed over a bit. His voice sounded so...gentle. It was completely different from the demanding and unfriendly tone he used the majority of the time. My cries were silenced within that moment, but my tears continued to fall like a waterfall. I wanted to stop the distraught and mere helplessness I was feeling. I wanted to do something to take my mind off things.

So I started, "Sh-Shadow...I–"

"_Sonikku~!_ I heard some noises coming from your room! Are you okay?"


End file.
